Amanda O’Brien; 10/7/09
An unseemly attack by a chief magistrate, tears and apologies from MPs, calls for US-style marshals, night courts and even chartering planes for prisoners are the latest twists in the fallout from a horror death in custody in Western Australia. But even as new ideas are floated to respond to the tragedy, the prospect of real reform in a moribund state justice system seems remote. Authorities are more familiar with knocking heads and applying bandaids rather than initiating major change. The death last year of the 46-year-old Aboriginal elder, identified only as Mr Ward for cultural reasons, shocked the nation when it was revealed the father of four “cooked to death” in the back of a prison van as he was transported through the outback. In a scathing report last month, Coroner Alastair Hope revealed that temperatures soared to 50 degrees celsius inside the van and the metal floor seared a 9cm third-degree burn across Mr Ward’s stomach when he collapsed during the four-hour journey.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25757431-5006789,00.html
Tags: Aboriginal, Australia, Death in Custody, Racism